THE TONGUE, EVE, AND EARS, INDICATIONS. 57 



And elsewhere, as the reader must recollect, or refer to ; but he must never 

 forget, that the first mentioned may be safely and powerfully stimulated as 

 the outlet for many constitutional affections of the system, the proper time 

 for their use being indicated (as I said before) by the appearance of the coat. 



The tongue always partakes of the general state of the system : m the 

 horse, it does not afford to the sight so sure a prognostic of the state of the 

 stomach as in the human subject ; but, to the feel, it communicates to us the 

 state of the blood with so much accuracy as demands our assiduous attention, 

 to the acquiring, by practice, the most intimate acquaintance with its moni- 

 tions. This member of the body, in conjunction with the coat, I have al- 

 ways considered the health-gage of mv patients. See observations on the 

 " Pulse" at page 60. 



The eye is a most material organ of sense, and is much studied by those 

 who would render themselves good judges of the general soundness or un 

 soundness of the horse's constitution. It beams bright and steadily in health, 

 projects most fiery when the animal is most vigorous ; in lassitude it sinks, it 

 blears with a cold, and under extreme circumstances is extinguished. After 

 a heat, horses full of blood, with foul stomachs, certainly alter in their vision, 

 shy and become troublesome; and, so sure is the eye the barometer of vigour 

 that horses got by old sires have the eye more sunken than others, with a hoi 

 lowness over it. 



The ears, by their movements, show the apprehensions of the horse, if not 

 his disposition. When he fears the lash, he turns their cavities backwards. 

 Is he disposed to be resentful, they are laid flat on his poll. Following his 

 companions, or the hounds, or going homewards, the cavity of the ear turns 

 sharply forward : asleep, as well as under other cii'cumstances of easy watch- 

 fulness, one ear turns forward, the other backward ; but, when roused sud- 

 denly, they alternately change position. Who, then, would destroy these 

 useful appendages of the horse's organ of hearing? Who would singe off the 

 hairs, which, passing from side to side of the cavity, catch the sounds and 

 convey to his rider the first notice of danger from wild beasts, as well as plea- 

 sure from the cry of the hounds? The Arab knows, by his horse's ears, of 

 the approach of enemies ; but the Englishman relies too securely upon his own 

 comparatively imperfect hearing, and cuts off those better intelligencers of dis- 

 tant occurrences ; or, he more assiduously abridges their Utility, by clipping 

 away the inside lining; or, worse still, by applying flame to the part, he ren- 

 ders the horse skittish ever after. Those are the only disorders of the ears 

 of horses; if, for want of this hairy defence, premature dulness of hearing, 

 occasioned by rain, dust, and other substances entering these organs, be not 

 another. 



That the genitals draw off from the system and store up a noble secretion, 

 for the purpose of continuing the kind, is certain ; but I shall pursue the mat- 

 ter no further than to notice the change to which the coats of geldings are 

 subject as to colour, compared to those of perfect horses ; and all the inference 

 I mean to draw from that fact is, the still further corroboration of ray pre- 

 viously maintained opinion, as to the seat of perspirable matter residing in the 

 la{ teal part of the system. 



As it is the blood which by its deposite forms all those parts, so by means 

 t>f the blood must we endeavour to correct any derangement of the system of 

 •inimal life, whetherof quadrupede orbipede; for the workingof the system in 

 making of new blood and cleansing the old is the same in ail, though differing 

 in degree, whilst mainly agreeing in the process. AVould any one demand 

 how it comes to pass, that quadrupeds draw so much substantial nourishment 

 from herbaceous vegetables, whilst man can only extract a watery juice, do- 

 void of all nutritious qualities? let h'.ni l>e answered, tliat all depends on th« 

 7 



